The Rising

I am so invested in this story; I haven’t enjoyed a read like this since The Stand. The diverse cast of characters and personalities really kept my interest, and I love how you can’t trust the dead, but turning your back on humans is in some ways even more deadly.

Wow my title is bad... heh.Surprisingly, I really liked this book. I wasn't so sure I was going to though...especially after reading the first chapter. Smart Zombies? Zombies that can use tools? Zombies that can basically do anything a human can? The only exception is is that they are slower than us. Not Romero slow though. Just slower than us.Keene had me hooked though once I got over the whole smart zombie take on things. I barely could put the book down after the first couple of chapters. I needed to know how these zombies were created (I have an idea). The book sort of tells us, but I cant tell if it's just a trick or if it's the real thing (not trying to spoil anything so I'm trying to keep it a bit vague).The book starts off smack dab in a zombiefied Earth. We don't get to witness the slow transgression. I usually like to watch the way it unravels so I was a bit disappointed in this, but it didn't bother me to much really. Jim is one of the first main characters, and is a decent one to start off with I think. Divorced with a son who's living with his mother. But at least he's got his new wife and child on the way...no wait...he doesn't, because they are zombies also. There is no holding back from Keene. If you even begin to think `oh please...he'll make it', then expect for him not to. I think Keene actually has a good read on people and that's why he can surprise you most of the time with untimely deaths... and the occasional "I can believe he/she lived". Well...back to Jim...he gets a cell phone call from his son who say's he's still alive and wants him to come rescue him from the attic. So Jim's adventure into the zombie madness begins.He meets certain people across the way who each have their own stories. Martin, a preacher whose faith is still strong. Frankie, a recovering heroin addict (who by the way is a female...and black...and very pretty [or at least can be or will be]. I totally thought of a white guy with the name Frankie... lol). The military or what's left of them...who have gone all `Apocalypse Now'. They are just as bad as the zombies. Maybe not all of them, but 99% of them. And there are a few others such as Baker (I believe that was his name... the book isn't sitting next to me), who is one of the surviving scientists that might have caused this epidemic.If you want zombies, this book has got them. If you want action, then look no further. If you want to read a book that you can actually visualize everything happening...then get `The Rising'. I didn't think for once that a book was going to make me love zombies (because I'm a huge zombie movie fan whether they are bad or good), but boy was I wrong. I read this whole book in less than 3 days. As soon as I was done with it I let a buddy of mine borrow it. I told him about the smart zombies and he almost didn't even give the book a try. The next day he had about 2 chapters left and came up to me to tell me how good it was.Thankfully I didn't read this book until after part 2 had already came out. I would be tearing my hair out if I had to wait for book 2.One big gripe I did have about the book was the spelling errors and grammatical errors. I mean seriously...KEENE...FIRE YOUR EDITOR. There were a LOT of spelling errors and spacing errors. Now I don't mean the whole book was bad, but if I can count about 10 errors in the whole book without even trying, that is sloppy editorial work in my opinion.Also one VERY big mistake was a name change. Later in the book Jim and Martin meet this Father and Son. The Father introduces himself as one name, but then a chapter over his name for the rest of the time through the book is totally different. I had to keep flipping back and forth to make sure I didn't get mixed up. Hell I still might be mixed up and the names aren't messed up. But I'm thinking they are... heh.If you are any kind of zombie lover, you need to do yourself a favor and read this book.

Keene's book tells the story of an apocalyptic world that falls apart altogether at once: the living-deads walk the Earth! This is apparently the offspring of the US' RHIC experiment gone awfully wrong. A breach in the usual balance between Evil and Good has been mistakenly opened. Mankind is left with the consequences: evil souls take possession of dead bodies and use them as vehicles. Struggling for survival, diverse groups of heroes fight across the US, trying to find some purpose or faith in life for some, looking for getting back to his son for one.The book is full of gory scenes. Action is continuous: there is hardly any slow moments in the entire work. Keene's ability as a writer is certainly multiple:- his narration constantly shifts the perspective on events from one character to another, bringing a lot of dynamism to the whole action.- suspense is wisely preserved by Keene's constant manipulation of the reader: it is not because we are following a specific, friendly character that his survival is guaranteed! Read for yourself to know more...- Keene's imagination is sharp: zombies are indeed intelligent, even gifted with a strong sense of (black) humor (would you believe THAT??), fast, ingenuous and fearsome. But they just don't HAPPEN to be like that: instead, there is a reason for them to act in such a way, which is deeply intermingled in religious considerations. Quite interesting!- Just like in reality, victims are made of a variety of people: the weak, the strong, women, children, elderly people... Zombies just don't discriminate among their preys when it comes down to feeding! This is realistic -any predator of the animal sphere would act likewise!- and adds a lot of interest to Keene's book.- the gory scenes are cold and almost clinically told. There are just enough details to make them credible without being boring in spite of their accumulation across the text.On the minus side of things, his book somewhat lacks serious and solid explanations in support of his theory. For one: how can it be explained that not all human beings have turned into zombies? Is that explained in The Rising's Sequel? Also, overall, it looked as if Keene is a little short on technology, combat practices and strategies, or anything a bit specific or detailed for that matter. The scenes involving mechanized combat lack credibility: tanks for instance are not used to their full efficiency (why don't you use a tank to drive and crush through a crowd of zombies?), same for helicopters, military rapport between soldiers and hierarchy is not credible, even in a tension-ridden context. Plus, the RHIC experiment is anything but credible scientifically. On the medical side: how can you expect a dead body with inert (=non-air breathing) lungs to produce any kind of sound? Overall, the story lacks a strong, technical base to be awarded a full 5-star rating.But still, The Rising makes for a light, enjoyable read. A testimony to this affirmation is that I am going to purchase The Rising's sequel!

I've previously read two other Brian Keene novels - Dead Rising and Dark Hollow - both of which I really enjoyed.I had been intending to read this book for a while and was really looking forward to it, however overall I was a little disappointed. This is the author's preferred edition of his 2003 debut novel so I guess his books just got better.I still enjoyed this book though, the beginning was really strong and at first I enjoyed the intelligent fast zombies which must have been really fresh back in 2003. Ok, so technically the zombies in this are more like demons who inhabit dead bodies and reanimate them. It works though and I enjoyed it for the most part.However it got a bit annoying at times, I didn't like it when so many zombies were driving cars, vans and motorbikes and we're good snipers etc. It all felt a bit too much and detracted from the story.There are quite a few different characters, some more interesting than others. Side characters Baker and Frankie were interesting but central character Jim - on route to try and find his son - felt a bit one dimensional.There's a cliffhanger ending which some people won't like but I didn't mind it too much. There's a sequel called City of the Dead which I'll probably read at some point too.This book is still worth a read if you like horror fiction - although you might not be impressed if you prefer more classic zombies.

Inventive, gripping, bloody and thoroughly unputdownable, Brian Keene's debut novel, presented in its author's preferred edition is a book which all fans of the unread should read.It is a tale of horror, loss, love, and also one of hope and faith and even redemption.At around 120k words, it's about a third longer than the original published version, and yet one can read the book in a day, simply because the author's writing style makes you want to keep on reading, even when you're running on empty and your eyes grow tired.And now I'm done, it's time to start the next book, also available in an author's preferred edition.

Everyone, at some time in their lives, should have the pleasure of reading a good zombie novel. Unfortunately there are many poorly written examples of this genre (refer to my review of "Night of the Nazi Zombies" [...] It is therefore most enjoyable to read and review "The Rising" by horror supremo Brian Keene. Zombie books, to be fully appreciated, must contain certain essential ingredients; first and foremost we have a world in meltdown and a population devastated by the surprisingly well name Y2K virus turning ordinary upstanding citizens into demented, bloodthirsty, murdering, stinking!... blobs of leaking, reeking flesh!! (I'm enjoying this reivew :) Our hero Jim Thurmond is travelling to New Jersey in the hope of finding his son Danny who he believes is still alive. As he journeys we are introduced to a host of characters just doing their best to survive in a world of chaos and bloody murder....Frankie a prostitute, Jason and his dad Delmas, Worm a retarded youth, Martin the preacher man still believing that God will always shine a positive light and that his will..will always be done. If we add to the mix a renegade group of mercenary soldiers, led by the thoroughly evil Colonel Schow looting, pillaging and raping their way from city to city...then we have a sure fire winning recipe horror feast. In one memorable scene Col Schow takes a traitor aloft in a helicopter, attaches a bungee to his ankles throwing him mercilessly to the flesh ripping zombies below, and as he falls to earth and bounces skyward, in true horror fashion, he is ripped to pieces and consumed with relish (and I don't mean the sauce)....nice! The Rising is a great fun read that never takes itself too seriously, the zombies being the real stars...in the words of zombie leader UB "Your kind must learn that your time is over. You are food. Meat. Transport. Nothing more. Your time here is over"...so join UB and his evil smelling pals for a tour de force horror fest of ginormous, bloodthirsty portions...if you dare..................

I bought this on the back of several reviews for Stephen King's Cell, which mentioned it as a much better example of the genre. I was intrigued. And I have to say that this is the best horror novel I've read in years - a real nostalgic throwback to the best of King and McCammon. I read it in one sitting, couldn't put it down, and within 20 pages was cursing to myself as I realised I was going to have to buy City of the Dead right away because there was no way I was waiting to find out what happened next.I don't actually have a thing for gore - my horror novel taste tend more towards twists and turns in the plot - but I must have been hardened over the years, because I didn't find much in here that made me really wince. Keene tends to be short on detail when it comes to blood. There's a lot of it, but he doesn't linger - I like that.There were some classic set pieces that had me on the edge of my seat and some original ideas. I especially liked the zombie baby - nice touch! And I liked the fact that the heroes weren't the usual clean-cut good guys. No plucky, polite kid - Frankie is a gem of a character and one I was rooting for all the way through.I'm now eagerly going to work my way through Keene's other novels - what a delight to finally have a new horror author to read who delivers the goods, after so much disappointment from King in recent years and no one - till now - who's really filled that gap for me.

Zombies come and zombies go, and when it comes to balls to the wall horror fun you cannot beat this classic of modern horror. Like an angry heavy metal school kid The Rising sticks two fingers up at the traditional zombie and zombie novels. With intelligent talking zombies, or if you want to be a pedant reanimated corpses, anything with a brain can become a zombie, hell it's a goldfish that first becomes zombified. This is a thrilling novel that dares to dust the cobwebs will have you screaming for a sequel. Which is a good thing as the author did write one after so many people got annoyed over the controversial ending.